So I have a common problem that I think most people have when looking to purchase new gear. I am an intermediate rider looking for my second board something all mountain style that can ride it all to the best of its ability. I also want to point out that I have a limited budget and am looking to keep it around $200 for the board.
Now in that price range you can find some good deals on last years boards brand new, like many of the Atomic boards. I have never read a bad review about these boards and with their Good Wood track record and history, I know they put out a quality product. The other option is to find a slightly used board, many times under 10 days of riding, but it could be a couple of years old. For example Burton Custom X boards that retailed for ~$600 but now can be found for decent prices. The reviews again are always very good but the problem is the board technology could be 4-6 years old. So the question is do you buy the older board that was a higher end model or do you buy the brand new board that may be middle of the pack with new technology?

Yeah, that one is always tough. From what I know deck technolgoy has not changed all that much in the last few years. IMHO, go cheap (but decent) and use the saved money for more lift tickets.

Assuming you don't count camber/rocker making a big resurgence in boards than yea not a lot has changed in the last season or two.

But pretty much every manufacturer is creating either camber/rocker boards of some sort this season. Im sure every large one will have some implementation(some better than others obviously) next season...

alrite, to be honest atomic boards arent even worth the thought, secondly i would almost instantly rule out choices more than 3 years old. There are killer deals on last year burton stuff all over the interweb. If that doesnt work then Just ebay.. I just bought a BRAND NEW burton Dominant 150 board 08/09* season for 250. and thats a 380 dollar board.. Just keep your eye out for deals and you cant go wrong bro.
PEACE

What if we take out the possibility of a damaged board? I know you never can when purchasing used, but for the sake of arguing just board technology how big of a factor is 3-5 years of development.

An interesting fact is that if you look at the car manufacturer BMW the 7-series gets the crazy high tech stuff first and then the good stuff trickles down to the other models after a few years. I wonder if that is happening in the snowboard industry; that a mid range board now would be equal to a high range board a couple of years ago.

Arsenic0 made an interesting point and I am also interested in seeing if Banana Technology is just a fad, but that is for a different discussion.

Off topic, but for me personally, I have narrowed it down to last years brand new Atomic Alibi and an older lightly used (<4 times) Nidecker Megalite, both priced the same. Either one will be a huge improvement over the gear I have been riding.